D J Lowbridge's personal blog for sharing news about his writing, articles he has written around the web and some of his interests (including crabbing)

Wednesday, 12 June 2013

Six Things We Should Never Do As Writers

Writing is such a demanding job at times, which I think
people just don’t understand. If you consider yourself as a business (which you
should do if you want to make this your career) then you are the design,
production, marketing and management teams all rolled into one. For an
international selling business that is so much to do for one person. So it is
no wonder why sometimes we all lose our heads and do things that perhaps we
shouldn’t. Here are six things that some authors do when they are overworked /
angry / for the hell of it which really they shouldn’t.

1.Insult other authors

You would be
surprised at the number of insults that sometimes I see flying between authors.
Sometimes this is because personalities clash, other times because one author
wants to do something that others feel is inappropriate. The one thing I would
say is that if you insult another author, you are not acting professionally. I
would say that it is no better than schoolyard bullying – which is
unprofessional. This in turn will divert readers away from your work and could
get them to buy from those you are insulting. If you don’t agree with someone
that is okay – we all have our own opinions – but don’t lash out, just thank
them for their comments and carry on / take their advice.

2.Lie to your audience

This can be so
easily linked to the above point, but it doesn’t have to be. Lying to your
audience is a bad idea. It not only takes away your credibility but also your
precious time. I know in theory most authors are telling lies for a career
(story writing) but at least tell the truth when talking about other authors,
books or what you are currently doing. If you lie too much not only will your
nose grow, but your audience will just consider you are calling wolf and never
listen to you again.

3.Respond to Bad Reviews

A topic that
almost deserves a blog post on its own, responding to reviews, any reviews, is
a bad idea. Responding to bad reviews however serve no purpose. For one thing
everyone is entitled to their opinion and to comment on their bad review
(especially to tell them how they are wrong) is like taking that right away.
Also readers just don’t like it and feel like you are big brother checking up
on them, which they will remember next time your book is around.

4.Rant on Facebook / Twitter

How many times
have I seen this?! I’ve lost count. Remember that everything you produce online
is viewable through the search engines. And if a reader finds a rant from you
about such and such a reader not appreciating your finer points or even about
bad reviews – you’ve created a negative impression to a potential reader and
lost sales. Rants are for the bedroom wall if you must or can be emptied with a
simple shrug and a half day crabbing / shooting / [insert favourite activity
here].

5.Rush

This is probably
my biggest error. No-one is perfect (not an excuse I know). Sometimes I rush
blog posts. Normally I get my blog posts to a beta reader to check for
spelling, but that isn’t always an option. I will do a quick read but the only
problem is that I find it hard to spot my own mistakes.

6.Forget the real world

How many of us
could actually spend the whole day logged into our facebook accounts? Locked on
our books? Too many of us I am sure. The real world is inspirational – it can
give you characters, plots and solutions to those pesky problems. So take a
walk, go out for a day and get away from the computer and our work. (Yes okay I
could be guilty of this too – but I do walk two hours a day).

Are there things that you think writers should
not do? What do you think of this list? Comment below.

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2 comments:

Rushing it probably my biggest error too, although I am trying to change that. I used to post my blog posts and then see them in my income mail box. Each time I immediately spotted a mistake. Since then I try to write the post, upload it and then let it rest for one day, read it again and publish it. This works best for me to spot errors :)

A lot of my posts are scheduled in now and I read them a couple of times - but I can't spot my own mistakes. even with a spellchecker and a beta reader - mistakes happen. If I had an endless money I would have an editor go through each one, but unfortunately I am not there yet. :)

About Me

David is a freelance copywriter, online marketing consultant and a father of three. His online work has helped his clients to create digital marketing campaigns that have delivered strong leads and attracted national publications to contact them.

His latest venture, TwoFeetMarketing, is there to support small to medium businesses to learn how to run their online marketing campaigns cost effectively.